Push for Parent Input On Rezoning Process
If Community Board 8 has its way, Upper East Side parents will have continuing input into the likely contentious school district rezoning process, scheduled to begin this fall.
At the board’s June 15 youth and education committee meeting, members unanimously passed a resolution to present to District 2’s Community Education Council, which covers the Upper East Side and much of lower Manhattan. Read more
Board 8 Backs Away From Central Park Tennis Bubble Plan
Shifting from its initial support, Community Board 8’s parks committee decided to wait before taking a position on a proposal to install bubbles over the Central Park tennis courts during winter months.
The resolution, issued at an April 15 committee meeting, also requested “the speedy receipt of additional information from the Parks Department.”
The proposal first came before Board 8 in February 2009. At that time, the committee supported the bubbles in “concept” and approved the Parks Department’s plans to “hire an outside organization to develop, maintain and operate the proposed indoor facility in Central Park.” Read more
Board 8 Backtracks on Support for Central Park Tennis Bubbles
Shifting from its initial support, Community Board 8’s parks committee decided to wait before taking a position on a proposal to install bubbles over the Central Park tennis courts during winter months.
The resolution, issued at an April 15 committee meeting, also requested “the speedy receipt of additional information from the Parks Department.” Read more
Saloon Takes Heat From Pols
And the beat goes on against Saloon, a club at 1584 York Ave., between East 83rd and 84th streets.
Three local elected officials are lobbying the State Liquor Authority to deny the club’s two new owners a liquor license. They say patrons have been a nuisance for neighbors, and have been responsible for disruptions including “fights, destruction of private property, public urination and noise,” according to the letter. Read more
Moltner Gets Mayor’s Nod
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has selected a former chair of Community Board 8 to sit on a panel that will evaluate major changes for municipal government. Kenneth Moltner is one of 15 people appointed to the long-awaited Charter Revision Commission, the mayor’s office announced March 3.
The commission, chaired by CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, is tasked with examining changes that the 1989 commission instated. Before any recommendations become official, however, proposals must be approved by voters in the November election. Read more
Delivery Dangers
New York City business owners who use bicycle delivery, beware: you may soon have to pay up when your delivery workers break the law.
Until now, commercial cyclists have been fined $100 to $250 for infractions like speeding, running red lights or riding on sidewalks. A new law would shift the fine from delivery personnel to employers.
“By putting the onus for penalties on the businesses that employ delivery riders, we give the businesses extra incentive to ensure that their employees are being responsible on the road,” said Council Member Jessica Lappin, the bill’s sponsor. Read more
BOARD 8: LIGHTS OUT FOR BILLBOARD
For decades, drivers who crossed the 59th Street Bridge into Manhattan have been greeted by an illuminated commercial billboard. But Community Board 8 wants to turn off the bright lights on this “blight on the community” that they say detracts from the new Tramway Park, on East 59th Street and Second Avenue.
“The park in that area is being done over. We feel it’s wrong to have that big looming sign over it,” Ludorf said.
In a stand against advertising clutter in the neighborhood, the board voted down the billboard’s renewal application, despite the city’s practice of granting routine extensions since the billboard was first authorized in 1977.
“It’s an illegal sign that shouldn’t be allowed to exist,” said board chair Jacqueline Ludorf. “Why allow a sign that’s in violation of zoning for that site?”
The sign is higher above the curb than zoning allows, Ludorf said, and she believes that the board voted down the original proposal decades ago. But the Board of Standards and Appeals, which offers relief from certain zoning regulations, approved the billboard.
The community board’s resolution, however, is only an advisory opinion. The Board of Standards and Appeals is likely to renew the billboard again, Ludorf said.
FORMER BOARD CHAIR TAPPED
David Liston, former chair of Community Board 8, was nominated and appointed to the Civilian Complaint Review Board by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Liston, a lawyer and assistant district attorney in Manhattan for five years, will serve as a commissioner until July 2010, when his term is finished.
The review board is a mayoral agency independent of the police force that addresses civilian complaints about police misconduct, abuses of authority and discourtesy.
“I’ve been put on the board at an exciting time in its history,” Liston said. “It’s been as busy as it’s ever been.”
As one of 13 commissioners, Liston will attend a monthly public meeting on board business. But Liston and two other commissioners will also be a part of a panel that reviews complaints against police, investigates allegations and votes on whether such claims can be substantiated. If proven true, the allegations are then forwarded to the police commissioner.
“I look forward to contributing to solutions and working with the board to make its proceedings more efficient while delivering fair and just results,” Liston said.
‘No’ to Tax Break
Community Board 8 took another shot at The Related Companies’ proposal to build a 40-story residential tower on what is now called Ruppert Playground, between East 92nd and 93rd streets and Second and Third avenues. The site contains a “tot lot” play area, as well as no-fee tennis, basketball and handball courts—valuable resources in a community that is both one of the city’s most densely populated and the one with the least publicly available recreational space.
At its June 17 meeting, Board 8 members debated whether Related should receive a tax abatement in exchange for including affordable units in the new building; Read more
On Board 8, Calmness Prevails
When Jacqueline Ludorf was a rank-and-file member of Community Board 8, she would discuss her committee’s concerns and pressing issues with the board’s chair. Since ascending to that position herself this past January, she is on the receiving end of those complaints and is getting inundated with emails.
That part of the job, Ludorf said, was most surprising. Read more
